So, I think Aniplex is trying to tell us something, here…
Earlier today, Aniplex of America announced that they’ll start streaming I’ve Always Liked You (Zutto Mae Kara Suki Deshita: Kokuhaku Jikkō Iinkai) on Crunchyroll. The film will hit Crunchyroll on October 4, at 10:00AM Pacific (1:00PM Eastern).
Aniplex of America opened a new website to promote the feature. In addition, the company started streaming a subtitled trailer for the film on their YouTube channel:
I’ve Always Liked You is based on Honeyworks’ Kokuhaku Jikkō Iinkai ~Renai Series~ Vocaloid song project. The feature originally hit Japanese theaters on April 23, 2016.
Tetsuya Yanagisawa (Daimidaler: Prince vs. Penguin Empire, High School DxD) directed the project at Qualia Animation, with Maki Fujii (Kannazuki no Miko: Destiny of the Shrine Maiden, UFO Ultramaiden Valkyrie) providing character designs. Yoshimi Narita (Listen to Me, Girls. I Am Your Father!, Zatch Bell) penned the film’s script. Original creators HoneyWorks provided the music for the film.
Other staff members on the project include:
- Chief Animation Director: Maki Fujii (KUSANAGI)
- Art Setting: Eiko Tsunado (KUSANAGI)
- Art Director: Yuki Umino
- Prop Design: Yutaka Miya
- Color Design: Makiko Kojima
- Director of Photography: Yoshihiro Sekiya
- CG: Yoshinori Ban
- Edit: Aya Hida
- Sound Director: Yukio Nagasaki
- Sound Effects: Yasuyuki Konno
- Sound Production: Milestone Music Publishing
- Animation Producer: Keisuke Kawai
- Producer: Shunsuke Saito
The voice cast for the film includes:
- Yu Setoguchi: Hiroshi Kamiya
- Natsuki Enomoto: Haruka Tomatsu
- Sota Mochizuki: Yuki Kaji
- Akari Hayasaka: Kana Asumi
- Haruki Serizawa: Kenichi Suzumura
- Miou Aida: Aki Toyosaki
- Koyuki Ayase: Tsubasa Yonaga
- Hina Setoguchi: Momo Asakura
- Kotaro Enomoto: Natsuki Hanae
- Saku Akechi: Hikaru Midorikawa
- Sena Narumi: Sora Amamiya
Aniplex of America describes I’ve Always Liked You as:
The film, which was released in Japanese theaters this past April, centers on high school students Natsuki Enomoto (voiced by Haruka Tomatsu) and her childhood friend Yu Setoguchi (voiced by Hiroshi Kamiya). Natsuki hopes to confess her love to Yu but is unable to admit to her true feelings, and ends up telling Yu that she is simply practicing how to confess her love to somebody else. While Natsuki hides her true feelings for Yu, she is asked by her classmate Koyuki Ayase for a date. The story features the sweet but sometimes bitter trials and tribulations surrounding young romance.